Somebody Told Me
by This Girl Maybe
Summary: A prodigal art student, only recently released from a secure psychiatric unit, disappears and Sam believes the young girl has committed suicide. The rest of the team try hard to disprove her but as time slips away, are Sam's instincts right?
1. 001

**Somebody Told Me**

Summary: A prodigal art student, only recently released from a secure psychiatric unit, disappears and Sam believes the young girl has committed suicide. The rest of the team try hard to disprove her but as time slips away, are Sam's instincts right?

x x x x x x x x x x x

_**FIVE HOURS MISSING**_

Agent Samantha Spade stirred the coffee, momentarily losing herself in the rhythmic motion, her mind only half concentrating on Jack's voice in the background, quizzing Richard and Anne Phillips about their niece, who according them, hadn't been heard from for five hours. Normally, with it being such a short amount of time, the police department would have told Mr and Mrs Phillips, in the most sympathetic voice, that they'd have to wait a whole day, maybe suggesting to telephone her friends. But this case was different, these concerned relatives were different. Not only was Anne Phillips a close personal friend of the D.A, but her niece, Erin, was apparently _disturbed._ It sounded like Jack was trying to garner from Erin's aunt and uncle what exactly that term meant.

"Erin was eighteen when she left school," Richard answered Jack's question, "She'd been branching out with her photography since she was sixteen. She'd had her work in a few shows in Los Angeles but she'd always wanted to complete high school."

"And she now attends what college?"

"New York Fine Arts," Anne supplied, taking the handed mug from Samantha's hand and laying it precisely on the mat on the table, "She's studying Art History. Professor Greene will be able to tell you more about her progress there, whether she was keeping up."

Jack nodded, noting down the name as Sam retook her seat, "You mentioned to one of the other agents that Erin had spent time in a psychiatric unit? Can you tell me about that?" Richard and Anne exchanged a look between them, something in Sam's eyes that looked to be of trepidation, almost fear. "Mrs Phillips..."Jack settled his eyes on the woman, "This is very important information that could help find your niece."

Anne took a last look at her husband, who subtly nodded, and she coughed slightly, her hands wrapping round the hot mug of coffee, "We've been trying to put it behind us, Erin's been doing so well recently."

"She's been out for eight months, since her nineteenth birthday." Richard added, finally meeting Jack's eyes, "She's been doing so well."

"How long was she sectioned for?"

"A year," Anne answered quietly, almost whispering, "She was in the psychatric hospital for a year. We visited her every week together, making sure she was making progress."

"She made progress pretty slowly," Sam half muttered to herself, then realising what she'd said as she looked up to the other three people around the table, "All I mean is that a year is a rather long time to be in a psychiatric unit, especially someone of Erin's age."

"Well my niece has some issues that aren't typical within her age group." Richard answered, slightly tersely.

"Is that why you put her into a secure unit rather than a non-secure one?" Jack questioned, "Because that type of ward is a very difficult place for a teenager."

"Have you ever spent more than five minutes in a psychiatric ward?" Anne looked up, "A week? A month? Think about spending a whole year there. St Augustine's Unit was the only one in the vicinity with an adolescent ward. We felt it was the best place for her."

Jack nodded sympathetically; he could see the emotion rising in Mrs Phillips. She didn't need any more stress with the situation she was dealing with at that moment with her missing niece, "I understand," He said quietly, and those few words seemed to simmer Anne as Richard's hand moved over hers, soothing her without words, "Can you give us a slight background on why she was in the unit?"

"Erin had been suffering from severe depression and suicidal thoughts," Richard answered after a pause, seeing that his wife was unable to answer as tears welled in her eyes, "It had come to a point where we believed that she would seriously harm herself."

"Can I ask if this is related to why Erin is living with you rather than her parents?" Sam questioned, feeling the glare of Jack on her as though it shouldn't be raised but she could feel something lurking, something instinctual told her there was a reason for Erin's behaviour. A trigger.

Anne looked down at the table, and Richard began stroking her hand in a comforting manner. "My sister in law, Erin's mother, had post natal depression after giving birth," She explained quietly, "We all thought she'd recovered from it, but when Erin was five, my brother found Christine in the garage dead," She paused, "Two years after that, when Erin was seven, her father did the same." Anne spoke in measured tones, her voice not drifting from a quiet whisper but as she looked up to the photoframe sitting on the table, both Jack and Sam could see the grief in her eyes. "Since then Erin's lived with us."

"Did she talk about her parents?"

Richard shrugged, "Occasionally. It wasn't until eighteen months ago when her behaviour started to get us concerned that she really mentioned them."

"And she hasn't mentioned them since she's been out?"

"Do you mean "has she started to think about suicide again?"...Well, the answer is no. Erin adores her art course, and she seems to be finding her way. She and our daughter Matilda spend all their time together, and she's started calling us her parents." Richard paused, "We thought everything had got back to normal."

"How old is your daughter Matilda?" Sam asked after a paused, not wanting to intrude on Mr Phillips' thoughts.

"She's eight." Anne answered, "She and Erin are very close."

"Would we be able to talk to her?"

"I'm not sure how much help she'll be..."

"Sometimes kids pick up on things adults don't. Or maybe Erin let something slip," Jack told the couple, "We would only need to speak to her for a few moments."

Anne nodded, "If it'll help..."

**End of Part One**


	2. 002

_**6 HOURS MISSING**_

Sam climbed the stairs, her hand gripping the pine bannister as she smiled at the array of drawing tacked to the wall. Hesitantly, she reached the top floor of the house, and immediately saw the blonde haired figure of a young girl standing at the threshold of one of the numerous doors leading from the hallway.

"Hello," Sam greeted her with a small smile, and the girl replied in kind with a rather more timid one. Sam ventured towards her, holding out her hand for the young girl to shake, "My name's Samantha."

The girl looked up with her large brown eyes, shaking the offered hand slowly, "That's pretty."

"Thankyou," Sam couldn't help smile in spite of herself, "What's your name?"

"Matilda," The girl answered shyly, her eyes darting back to the ground.

"That's a lovely name," Sam moved closer to Matilda, "That was my favourite book when I was your age."

Matilda's eyes seemed to snap upwards, staring directly into Sam's as a grin appeared over her young lips, "Erin loved it too. That's why I'm called Matilda."

"Well," Sam bent down further, putting herself at eye level with the girl, "I'm here to help find Erin. I want to make sure she's alright."

Matilda's face paled, her eyes widening into large dark pools, containing far more knowledge and experience of life than was right for such a young girl, "Erin is going to be OK isn't she?" She backed away from Sam's presence, retreating further away, "She is coming back isn't she?"

Sam nodded defiantly, "Of course. I just want to talk to you about her so we can make sure Erin is safe as soon as we can. You do want that don't you?" Matilda nodded enthusiastically, her fears seemingly abated by Sam's explantation. She gestured towards an open door, with pink walls and fluffy decorations and teddies visible inside, "Is that your bedroom?" Matilda nodded silently, "Can we talk in there?"

The pair walked into the bedroom, and Sam took a seat on the pink bedspread as Matilda sat cross-legged on the floor. A moment of serenity seemed to spread over them as Sam heard the quiet words of Jack questioning Matilda's parents downstairs, trying to find something, anything that would help find Erin. Her eyes wandered over the young girl's bedroom, full of animals and castles and fairytale dreams about princesses finding their true love. Angels littered the walls, and clouds appeared in the corners of the room. Next to her sat a strangely coloured dog that she recognised vaguely from early morning cartoons that she occasionally catched after a long night at work. "Do you and Erin talk a lot?"

Matilda shook her head up and down, "We talk all the time. She's my big sister." Sam let the untruth pass; there was no need to confuse the girl even more than she was already about the events in her life, "Sometimes, when I hear her crying, I go and sleep in her bed."

"Does she cry a lot?" Sam subtly began writing in her notebook.

Matilda pursed her lips in thought, "She used to," A strand of blonde hair was pushed behind her ear, "Before she went away though. After she came back, she was happy. She smiled a lot and went back to school. Mommy and Daddy said it was a new start."

"So she wasn't upset or angry after she came home? She didn't shout or not talk?"

Matilda shook her head, then slowed down, her brow furrowing. "Well, she did cry last week."

"She did?"

Matilda bit her lip, suddenly aware that she'd said something she wasn't supposed to reveal, "I-I-I don't know."

"Will you tell me?" Sam asked, slightly more forcefully than she intended.

The young girl looked unsure, hesitant in revealing any more than she should, but she opened her mouth and began to speak, "She was on the phone to someone in her bedroom. The door was closed...." Matilda looked out of the open door of her own bedroom and into Erin's opposite;

_She creeped past, dodging the creaky floorboards and tiptoeing past the cat to make sure that Erin didn't hear her approach. Her sister's voice was becoming more and more croaky, more and more tearfilled and despite being taught by her parents that when Erin was on the phone, she shouldn't be disturbed, it was Matilda's instinct to want to comfort her big sister. She stood to the right of the door, her ear pressed against the wall. Her eyes could just catch Erin's face in the mirror of the dressing table where she sat, cordless phone in her hand with tears streaming. Neither of her parents were around, both working out in the garden, so Erin hadn't thought of closing the door or lowering the tone of voice._

_"Please stop crying," Erin protested quietly to whoever was on the other end of the line, despite the fact she was crying herself, "Please Zoe...."_

_Matilda felt the press of the cat's tail against the leg, and willed the cat not to miaow or Erin would realise her presence. She didn't want to seem like a nosy girl; her mommy had told her that it wasn't a nice trait to have._

_"I have to do this, I just do." Erin's fingers dragged through her hair, her eyes bleary and red-rimmed from crying, "This will be the end. Everything will be so much easier."_

_The floorboard creaked, but not from Matilda's movement but the cat's. In the reflection of the mirror, Matilda could see her sister's eyes dart towards the door, rising slowly from her seat to investigate. Before she got any closer, Matilda ducked round into her parents bedroom. She held her breath and prayed that Erin wouldn't see her; otherwise she'd never trust her again. Erin, after looking down the stairs was satisfied that there were no eavesdroppers and went back into her bedroom, the phone still enclasped in her hand. Tearfully, she resumed her conversation and Matilda ran back outside to join her parents, trying to forget whatever she'd overheard._

Sam's hand worked quickly over the notebook, scrawling down the bare minimum of details over what the young girl had just told her. In all honesty, it shouldn't have surprised her. All the signs pointed towards suicide; recently released from a psychiatric unit, history of suicide in the family, depression. It all added up to it, but she still felt almost disappointed that Erin took that route. Her family seemed so devoted, and she seemed so loving, so considerate and desperate to right the wrongs that her biological parents had committed.

She didn't realise that she hadn't spoken for a significant length of time before Matilda shook her arm. Sitting on the floor, her baleful brown eyes looked up into Sam's; "She's going to be OK, isn't she?"

Instead of lying, Sam answered the question with a question; "Do you know any of Erin's friends that were named Zoe?"

"She didn't talk to any of her friends from high school when she came back." Matilda pondered thoughtfully, "There was a girl called Zoe that she met when she went away. I think they became good friends, but she didn't talk about her much. I think she was ill, and that she wouldn' be going back to her parents for a long time. Erin didn't like talking about her because it was sad."

Sam rose from the bed, walking towards the door, "Thankyou Matilda," She turned to face the young girl who still sat in the middle of the floor, only now she hugged the coloured dog to her chest, "You've really helped me."

"You'll bring her back, won't you?" She asked, fiddling with the hairs on the stuffed toy anxiously.

She swallowed, wondering if she should shatter the girls dreams and she paused before answering, "I'll try my hardest."

**End of Part Two**


	3. 003

**EIGHT HOURS MISSING**

The sky was beginning to darken, taking an air of mystery as it closed around Sam and Jack. Her heels clicked on the pavement underneath her shoes as they walked to the imposing building in front of them. As they stepped indoors, the smell of disinfectant, and of clinical cleanliness attacked their senses. Snow white tiles covered the walls and the floor, and harsh overhead lights caused a shine, giving the unit an almost blinding quality. At the end of the long corridor, a nurse pushed what seemed to be a drug cart from room to room. They turned in the other direction, spotting the nurse's office. Before they reached it though, a woman in a uniform exited, her brown eyes tracing over Sam and Jack with a smile.

"Agent Jack Malone and Samantha Spade," They both held out their ID's as the nurse gave them a fleeting glance, "We talked on the phone earlier about Erin Phillips."

She nodded in recognition, "Nice to meet you," She shook their hands formally, ushering them to the side of the corridor as a group of young nurses walked past, "although I'm not sure how much help I can be to you." She paused, "Erin left eight months ago. Apart from a monthly therapy session with Dr Crace, she doesn't come here very often."

"When's the last time that Erin came here, apart from therapy?" Sam asked, mindful of the patients walking by. Evidently St Augustine's Psychiatric Unit was a very busy place.

The nurse frowned, "It can't have been less than three weeks ago..." She stopped suddenly, "Oh, wait..." She began, "She came in three days ago. I wasn't on shift and I completely forgot."

"Do you know who she came to visit whilst she was here?"

"I can't say for sure, but I'd presume it was Zoe Halter," The nurse told them, "They were close friends and I know they still talk over the phone regularly."

The agents exchanged looks at the mention of Zoe, knowing it was the name that little Matilda had heard whilst overhearing Erin's coversation. Thoughts of a last goodbye ran through Sam's mind, "Would you mind if we talked to Zoe?"

"I don't know..." She said hesitantly, "We've tried not to mention Erin's disappearance to the patients."

"Zoe could really help us find Erin," Jack informed her, urging her to let them at least try and get some answers from Zoe, "We have reasonable information that apart from her family, Zoe was the last person Erin talked to before she went missing."

Upon this information, the nurse's resolve seemed to crumble and she nodded lightly. Beckoning them to follow her, they walked down the corridor, rooms passing them by with drugged and listless patients sitting inside of them. Jack shuddered to think how many teenagers sat in the building, and that was just the adolescent ward. They finally arrived at a door, a small white board screwed to the wall next to it, reading _"Halter, Zoe. Consultant: Dr JAMES". _

"This is Zoe's room," She indicated before knocking on the closed door three times, "Zoe?" She called out, opening the door slightly to poke her head round. "I've got some visitors from the FBI to talk to you." Before they knew it, the door had opened fully, and the nurse was ushering them into the room. As Sam began to take her surroundings in, her attention was drawn to the bed at the other side of the room, a brown haired girl sat cross legged staring out of the window with barbed wire covering the view it bore. She barely seemed to acknowledge their entrance.

"They want to talk to you about Erin sweetheart," The nurse approached the bed, sitting down next to Zoe.

"Erin's gone."

"Gone where?" Sam asked almost instantly.

"She's left the ward. Months ago." Zoe said, and Sam sighed. She shouldn't have thought it would be that easy.

"Didn't she come to visit you a few days ago?" The nurse asked, stroking Zoe's back gently. The girl turned to face the nurse, her eyes searching as to whether she should answer, "Please talk to them."

But she was unmoved by the nurse's request and remained silent. Jack looked to Sam and his look said more than words would; they wouldn't be getting anything from her soon. "We better go," Jack said to the nurse, and Sam began to follow him out of the door.

"Wait!" Zoe said urgently, almost instinctually as though she couldn't let them go. They both turned round at her exclamation and looked expectantly towards her. "She came to visit me. On Tuesday."

"What did she say to you?" Jack immediately questioned her, and the nurse gave a disapproving look which he ignored.

Zoe looked down to her lap, breathing steadily. "At first, we talked about the usual stuff. How we were both doing, about her family. She gave me a few letters that my family had sent her to give to me; they live in LA," She paused to look up, "Then she started talking about her parents...her biological ones..." Zoe corrected herself, "She just said that she was going to finally put everything to rest..."

_The room, like the rest of St Augustine's Psychiatric Unit, was clinically clean. Everything sparkled with an eerie gleam of obsessiveness. Erin's willow-like body entered the Visitors Hall and unlike most of the other visitors, she wore a beaming smile. She scanned round the patients and recognised almost all of them. Finally her gaze settled on Zoe, and they both grinned at each other. Erin dodged the chairs to get to the far end of the hall to see where Zoe sat down, a small plate of biscuits in front of her._

_"I made them in baking class today," She said with a small roll of her eyes, "They taste pretty good though."_

_Erin smiled, "Aren't you going to give me a hug?" Zoe pushed out her chair and wrapped her arms around Erin, embracing her gently._

_"It's so good to see you," She whispered in Erin's ear, and the girl nodded in agreement as they broke apart. "Everything good with you?"_

_Erin nodded defiantly as she sat down on the chair opposite, "Life is good. Matilda and I have been getting on better than ever and art college is fantastic."_

_Zoe's hand reached over the table, "I'm so pleased for you."_

_Erin moved her other to clasp Zoe's, looking deep into her eyes "It'll be you soon," She said genuinely, "You'll be out of here in no time."_

_"Sometimes it feels like I'll be here forever."_

_Erin shook her head and sighed, "I know it feels like an impossibility, but I was here too. You need to be positive and look to the future. We both should."_

_"I'm not going have much of a future," Zoe countered, "My parents can't afford me to live with them, and even if they could I have to be near New York..."_

_A smile crept onto Erin's face, "I've been thinking about that."_

_"You have?"_

_"Mmm. How would you like to live with me and my parents?" Erin told her, before adding, "I mean...Richard and Anne..."_

_Zoe smiled comfortingly at Erin's Freudian slip, "I don't know. I'd feel like I was completely imposing."_

_"No, they said it was a good idea. And then when we have enough money saved, we can buy a townhouse near Richard and Anne." Erin reassured her, "They think you're great and Matilda adores you." Erin's face moved into her familiar puppy dog expression, "Please, say yes?"_

"Do you think she was going to commit suicide?" Sam asked.

"No!" Zoe countered back like lightening, horror visible in her eyes, "She was talking about her future, about the rest of her life. She was planning for us to live together when I got out of this place," The young woman paused, "She wasn't going to kill herself after telling me that. She just wouldn't."

"Did she seem quiet or reticent when she came to talk to you?"

Zoe smiled sadly, "Erin's always quiet ma'am. It's how she is."

"We have a witness who says they heard Erin talking to you on the telephone in her bedroom, only a few days before she disappeared. By all accounts, she was apparently tearful and made references to suicide." Jack told her, "Can you tell us anything about that?"

Zoe looked genuinely puzzled, "We talked on the phone, and yes, we did get a bit tearful. That was only because of the anniversary of Mary's death is coming up."

"Mary?" He looked to the nurse for an explanation.

"Mary Goldstein was a patient here and cultivated a very good relationship with Zoe and Erin. Couldn't separate them. Erin and Mary were due for release on the same day, with Zoe following a week later. But one of the nurses found her dead in her room," The nurse looked to Zoe, mindful of her words, "It was a great loss to the unit, but also to the girls. It set them back in their therapy a great deal."

Sam and Jack maintained a moment of silence as Zoe's eyes began to tear up at the thought of her passed friend, "You have to understand," Zoe began, her words needing no encouragement for the first time during the time the agents had been there, "That Erin wouldn't kill herself. She just wouldn't. After Mary died, we both promised to live every moment to the full like she would have wanted us to. That's why she was going back to art college and starting her exhibitions again. That's why I'm working so hard to get out of here." Zoe paused, "She's not dead. Trust me."

**End of Part Three**


End file.
